2012 Cornas La Geynale

"The best thing about the 2013s is that the wines speak of their origins,, with good acidity and minerality" said Vincent Paris in December. "They're for fans of terroir." The 2012s also have fresh acidity but more tannins, he added, and he believes that they will be wines to drink after the 2013s and also the 2011s, another vintage that Paris likes for its elegance and precision. Incidentally, Paris told me that he has never had such strong demand for his wines and that his 2012s, from a robust crop, sold out more quickly than any vintage he has ever produced, including the rabidly pursued 2010s.

I've noticed a more restrained, elegant touch to the wines here in recent years, even in potentially richer and more powerful vintages like 2010 and 2009. Ever since he took over most of the vines of his uncle Robert Michel, many Cornas aficionados have found it necessary to append "Michel's nephew" to Vincent Paris's name, a fact that must be aggravating to this soft-spoken, shy vigneron.I sense a greater confidence and a more relaxed outlook in him now than I did when we first met him ten years ago, and that assurance seems to be spilling over into his wines.Paris told me that he started his 2012 harvest under benign conditions on September 20th, "which is the traditional time for Cornas," and that the fruit came in quickly, easily and clean.Everything is in place for the wines to be classic in style, "with emphasized fruit and slightly softer tannins because of the thinner skins." Those relatively soft tannins mean that the wines will age, he believes, "but not for an extremely long time." In contrast, he finds the 2011s "good to drink now, with the open character of 2006," a vintage that Paris believes is also ready to drink now, by the way.